Dad wasn’t going to let her go that easily. “Tell Frannie I want her back at her sister’s house or she’ll have me to answer to.” After giving his love to all of them, Dad said goodbye and hung up.
Bridget stood in the hallway, looking at the telephone as if it were the cause of her problems. Was Dad right that Claire and Jenny would be better off at home? What about her vows to Red?
Bridget walked down the stairs to the first floor. Dad’s threat of coming out sounded serious. He hated leaving the store, especially with the fall season coming up. But like he always said—nothing was more important than his girls.
He might do it, and that would be a disaster.
She’d give talking to Claire another try. Her sister should at least give the idea of going home some consideration. Bridget pushed through the hospital doors and out into the bright August sun. She and Claire had all day together. Plenty of time for Bridget to talk some sense into her big sister.
chapter 22:CLAIRE
Claire fought lookie-loo tourists for an hour and a half before she finally reached Mammoth. She pulled up at the hospital, feeling like a frazzled mess from the hot drive and her spinning thoughts on Red, Dell, and Lem Garrison.
Bridget waited for her, looking as cool as a cucumber in a light-green dress. She climbed into the truck, throwing a glare at an elk lying in the shade next to the hospital doors. “I don’t know why they let those beasts lounge wherever they wish.”
“Hello to you, too,” Claire said, putting the truck in gear and pulling away from the hospital. “And they were here before we were.”
Bridget waved her comment away and propped Jenny on her lap. “Aren’t you beautiful?” Jenny rewarded her with a gummy grin. “And your mommy is a knockout.”
Claire rolled her eyes but was relieved to see her sister in good spirits. She was determined not to veer into any sensitive topics with Bridget. She’d get them to Canyon for the program, then Claire would calmly tell Bridget that she didn’t need Frannie to come home with her. Frannie would be thrilled, and Claire wouldn’t have to tell anyone about Red.
She turned out of Mammoth toward the east side of the park. “How is the new job?” Work was always a safe topic where Bridget was concerned.
“Full of surprises,” she answered sourly. “Did you know about the nurses who died?”
Not as safe a topic as Claire had thought. “Yes,” she said carefully. It was all anybody had talked about for weeks.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t exactly give me time to write back,” Claire reminded her with raised brows and a sidelong look. “And then when you got here, I didn’t want to scare you.”
“Thanks for that,” she said sarcastically. Bridget spent the next stretch of road talking about the head nurse she called the Crow, and a sweet junior nurse named Beckett. “The senior physician is on the ball, but the seasonal doctor...” Her grimace said it all.
Claire suppressed a smile. “Is he good-looking?” The doctors who annoyed Bridget almost always were.
“Beckett calls him Dr. California. He’s from San Francisco.”
“Sounds like you’re living in one of those books you’re always reading,” Claire said, her grip on the steering wheel relaxing. “Daring nurse finds adventure and love in Yellowstone National Park.”
“I’m not looking for love or adventure,” Bridget answered back. “But it is good experience. Yesterday, we had a broken tibia and a rattlesnake bite.”
Claire listened to Bridget talk about her patients until they took the turn south toward Tower Falls. She pointed to the east. “That’s the way to the Lamar Valley, where Red and I camped last summer.” Her voice was cheerful, but a pang of longing pierced her remembering that blissful two weeks, her riding Marigold and Red on Rosie, their camping gear loaded on Bess. It had been heaven on earth.
“I can’t believe you slept outside,” Bridget said as if they’d slept on the moon. “I mean, how did you go to the bathroom?”
“Of course you’d worry about that.” Bridget was a stickler for sanitation.
“It’s a legitimate question,” she answered back. “And horses.” Bridget shuddered.
A prickling heat crept up Claire’s neck that had nothing to do with the hot wind coming through the open windows. Why did it seem like she had to defend her life at every turn?
Bridget adjusted Jenny in her lap and twisted toward Claire, her expression serious. “Is everything okay, Claire? Really?”
Claire gave her a frown. Couldn’t they just have a pleasant day together without bringing up how her sister didn’t approve of her marriage or anything else in her life?
When Claire didn’t answer, Bridget went on. “I mean, it’s got to be hard. You come across as this strong pioneer woman, but...” She hesitated. “You deserve better.”
“What?” Claire slowed as they approached a series of hairpin turns and glanced over at her sister. It suddenly felt like Dad was sitting right between them. “Did Dad put you up to this?”
